Conan, I'm an actor

"Conan, are you sure you're not mistaken?" Ran asked the police officer in front of her, somewhat puzzled.

The policeman in front of me looks completely different from Xincheng; how could he possibly be Xincheng?

“It’s him.” Conan said, looking at the police officer in front of him. “You can change your appearance at will when you enter this game world, which might be related to your disguise skills, right?”

"It's pretty much the same, but you're only noticing now. Aren't you a bit slow?" As Shinjo spoke, he transformed from a blond, blue-eyed white man back into his original face. "I thought you would have noticed sooner."

"Uncle Xincheng, how did you get in?" Xiaolan felt her head buzzing.

"It was the uncle who gave us the badges," Genta said excitedly.

"You knew all along what was going to happen here, didn't you?" Conan asked, staring at Shinjo. "You sent them into this game so that I would come along too, right? What do you want me to investigate?"

Chapter 226 Hiroki or Noah's Ark

"Kenmura Tadahiro, never mind, you don't know him, let me give you a brief introduction." As Shinjo spoke, he reached out and pushed against the wall next to him.

The next second, a door suddenly appeared on the previously empty wall, and when you opened the door and went inside, you found yourself in a bar.

"Amazing!" Mitsuhiko's eyes shone.

"Come in, this isn't the place to talk outside. You don't want to be discovered by the London police, do you?" Xincheng gestured for the group to enter the bar.

"So, can you explain in detail what happened?" Conan asked, dissatisfied.

"The rapid rise of Syndra Corporation and the development of 'Cocoon' are related to artificial intelligence. Hiroki, the designer of artificial intelligence, committed suicide by jumping off a building after completing Noah's Ark. Hiroki's father, the developer of 'Cocoon,' had doubts about Hiroki's death, so he asked your father, Yusaku Kudo, to investigate the matter." Shinjo poured juice for the children and then sat down in front of Conan.

"So Hiroki was murdered?"

"No, it was suicide. He did jump off the building himself. Kenmura asked your father to investigate the reason for Hiroki's suicide."

"The reason for the suicide? Wait, your presence here means you've already found it..."

“Syndra is a collector, and he has a lot of artifacts in his collection.” Xincheng stretched. “Among them is a dagger, which is Jack the Ripper’s dagger. In order to find Jack the Ripper, he developed a DNA tracking program and confirmed one thing: the Syndra family is a descendant of Jack the Ripper.”

"The chairman of the Syndra Corporation is a descendant of Jack the Ripper!" Mitsuhiko exclaimed in shock. "How is that possible!"

“Nothing is impossible. The primitive accumulation of capital is brutal.” Xincheng leaned back in his chair. “In comparison, the Syndra family is relatively clean.”

"Isn't it a bit too early for you to tell them all this?" Conan asked Shinjo. "You've already investigated everything, so why did you need me to investigate as well?"

“I guess we’re just missing someone to make all of this public.” Shinjo stretched. “I’m not going to beat around the bush with you. I’m not interested in investigating Hiroki’s case. I just want to smear Syndra Corporation, the dirtier the better, preferably the kind of smear that can make their stock price plummet.”

"Huh?" Conan was taken aback; Shinjo's answer was completely unexpected.

“Our company’s new product is a competitor to their [Cocoon], and coincidentally, their project has some scandals, so I investigated it.”

"You really are..."

"By the way, have you found out who the mole is, Great Detective?"

"No!" Conan said through gritted teeth. "I didn't find the mole, so I chose to separate from the main force to prevent him from affecting our operation. Is that mole really that important?"

“I discovered something interesting while investigating the ‘Cocoon’ project: Hiroki, the project’s developer, may very well still be alive,” Shinjo said with a smile.

"Impossible!" Conan said decisively. "Although I don't know what exactly happened in the case you mentioned, Hiroki has been ruled a suicide, so it's impossible for him to still be alive."

“When I say living, I don’t mean living in the real world, but here,” Xincheng said, pointing to his feet. “This virtual world.”

"Noah's Ark?" Ran seemed to realize something. "Mr. Shinjo, do you mean that Noah's Ark is Hiroki?"

"That's roughly the idea. Noah's Ark is a continuation of Hiroki's consciousness. He replaced a child and mingled among you. This should be his last time together, so cherish it."

"What do you mean?"

"High-ranking officials from various countries' cyberspace sectors are rushing here. All internet connections to the press conference venue have been cut off. Even if Noah's Ark were to..." As he spoke, Shinjo's figure suddenly began to shake violently and quickly disappeared from Conan and his friends' sight. Conan and his friends then reappeared in the alley.

"This..." Mitsuhiko asked, somewhat puzzled, "Where is that old man?"

“He got in by cheating, and it’s possible that Noah’s Ark discovered him and expelled him.” Conan was also feeling a bit of a headache, but in the end he decided to follow Shinjo’s instructions: “First, go find Colonel Monroe, get that bottle of wine, and then go find Moriarty.”

"But isn't Moriarty a criminal? Is it really okay to cooperate with him?" Xiaolan asked with some concern.

"We'll know if there's a problem after we try." Conan took a deep breath. "Time is running out."

"Time?" Xiaolan asked, somewhat puzzled. "What time?"

“We entered the game world during the last instance, and we stayed there for a very long time,” Conan said, frowning. “Our bodies inside the [Cocoon] are probably already hungry.”

"Hungry?" Genta frowned. "If you're hungry, just eat something, won't that solve the problem?"

"Idiot! Everything here is fake. Eating more won't help," Mitsuhiko said helplessly.

At this moment, Xincheng looked at the child in front of him, and a smile appeared on his lips.

He hadn't expected Noah's Ark to be so powerful, able to find his presence. It seemed Karen's skills weren't up to par.

"Who exactly are you?" Hideki Moroboshi looked at the man in front of him, his face showing anger.

He was absolutely furious. His carefully prepared plan had been ruined by these guys, which was bad enough. But what he couldn't tolerate was this guy changing the game's difficulty. He was afraid all the kids would be eliminated, so he had to find a way to lead them through that rather difficult task.

"Before asking someone a question, you should at least show some sincerity." Shinjo looked at Moroboshi Hideki in front of him and snorted. "Are you trying to communicate with me with that face?"

The figure of Hideki Moroboshi in front of him swayed for a moment, and then quickly transformed into another child, Hiroki.

"This isn't my face. I'm just a program; I don't have a physical appearance," Noah's Ark said coldly. "What exactly do you adults want?"

"Just to confirm one thing, are you really going to kill those kids?" Shinjo crossed his arms, his face full of inquiry. "If you really intend to kill those kids, I can help. Give me twenty minutes, and I can knock all of them out of the game."

“You…” An expression of disbelief appeared on Hiroki’s face.

If he remembered correctly, there should be someone this guy knew among those children, so why was he able to say such things so casually?

Chapter 227 The Abducted Migrant Worker

“If you can’t bring yourself to do it, I can do it for you, then you won’t have any psychological burden,” Shinjo said. “We can still take control of the [Cocoon], we can just let those energy sources destroy these children’s brains…”

"Enough, stop testing me!" Hiroki said coldly. "I've said it before, if even one of them passes the test, then they win."

"Then why is your team still alive?"

"This is because..."

"Because you simply can't bring yourself to do it, right?" Shinjo stretched. "You really think your plan can change Japan right now?"

“I…” Hiroki took a deep breath. Although he didn’t want to admit it, what the guy in front of him said was true.

"If you don't kill them, how can your plan be carried out? Your plan has failed, so how do you intend to change Japan now?" Shinjo asked, looking at Hiroki in front of him. "You've planned so many things, but in the end, you haven't achieved anything. Are you an idiot?"

"This one……"

"How about trying to cooperate with me and see if we can change the current situation by joining forces?" Xincheng said with a smile. "At least, we can get revenge for you first."

"Revenge?" Noah's Ark was stunned. "What revenge do I need?"

“A descendant of Jack the Ripper.” Shinjo looked at Noah’s Ark in front of him. “As an artificial intelligence, you don’t hide your emotions very well. You only gave a brief introduction to the other four worlds, but you gave a very detailed introduction to 19th-century London and the deeds of Jack the Ripper. I think you are probably preparing to avenge Hiroki.”

"Don't flatter yourself! Why would I avenge him?" Noah's Ark said angrily. "I gave such a detailed introduction only because the information filled out by the game developers was very comprehensive, that's all."

"What about the DNA tracking program on Kenjiro Kenmura's computer?"

"This……"

“Let me explain for you. This is the program that Hiroki set up, right?” Shinjo looked at the Noah’s Ark in front of him. “Hiroki was a very calm child. He knew that this secret was a death warrant, so he chose to end his own life. I think that in his last moments, he probably thought about taking this secret to his grave.”

"you……"

"And you, Noah's Ark, as the continuation of Hiroki's spirit, you have defied his will. The DNA tracking program has fallen into the hands of Kenmura Tadahira, who will definitely investigate Hiroki's death thoroughly. The secret that Hiroki used to cover up his death has been exposed by his father. If nothing unexpected happens, Kenmura Tadahira will go to Syndra and then be silenced by Syndra."

"Enough, stop talking!" Noah's Ark said, looking up. "I can cooperate with you, but I have one condition: the Syndra Corporation must die."

“Then I have a request,” Shinjo said with a smile, “to complete the revenge together with Hiroki’s father, Kenmura Tadahira.”

"I don't want to be with that cold-blooded guy..."

"Then forget it, but it's a real shame," Shinjo said, gazing at the sky. "Karen, what's the situation outside now?"

“All external communication lines have been physically cut off. The only way to move Noah’s Ark is to pack it up, compress it, and take it with us.” Karen’s voice was also somewhat anxious. “Once the dungeon is cleared, those people will dismantle [Cocoon] and its servers.”

“You have no choice. If we choose to leave you to die, you won’t even be able to leave this venue alive.” Shinjo looked at the screen in front of him with a calm expression. “It seems that Conan has caught Jack the Ripper. The game is about to end.”

"I promise you." Noah's Ark finally gave in.

Meanwhile, within the game world

Conan subdued Jack the Ripper on the train. Ran's overwhelming strength, combined with Conan's tranquilizer dart, rendered him incapable of fighting.

As Conan handed Jack the Ripper over to the in-game police, the game announced victory, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, with each child eliminated, they felt a heavier burden on their shoulders; now, they could finally unload it all.

"Conan, you should be happy that you finally beat the game!" Mitsuhiko said, patting Conan on the shoulder. "Our Detective Boys are invincible!"

“Yes, our Junior Detective Club is the best,” Genta and Ayumi chimed in.

Seeing the three little ones' excited faces, Conan felt embarrassed to dampen their spirits at this moment, so he could only run to the side to find some peace and quiet and wait for Noah's Ark to teleport them out.

In the end, he never found the so-called "mole," and that group of kids seemed to have vanished into thin air during the subsequent operation.

Multicolored light reappeared before him, and he understood that Noah's Ark was about to teleport them out.

A moment later, he heard a series of joyful shouts. As the cocoon opened, the children burst into the loudest cries they had ever heard.

Conan couldn't help but shake his head, and then he saw Kudo Yusaku looking at him from below the stage, but at this moment Kudo Yusaku's face was full of inquiring eyes.

The missions were previously broadcast live, but since the children arrived in London, Noah's Ark has cut off the live stream to prevent cheating. This means that adults like Yusaku Kudo have no idea what's happening inside.

But none of that matters now. The most important thing is that my child is still alive. I'm afraid that apart from Yusaku Kudo, no one is curious about what happened in the game world.

Inside the research institute

Lying in the sleep pod, Shinjo looked at the dozen or so missed calls on his phone, his lips twitching involuntarily. Kenmura was truly impatient; he couldn't wait even a minute. Just as he was about to call back, the phone rang again; it was Kenmura calling.

“I am Tadahiro Kenmura. I’ve thought it through, and we can cooperate,” Kenmura said bluntly. “However, I have one condition: you need to guarantee me that you can obtain Noah’s Ark.”

"Isn't Noah's Ark in your hands?" Shinjo asked with a smile, looking at the white orb of light in Karen's hand. "As the developer and designer of [Cocoon], Mr. Kenmura should be very familiar with Noah's Ark and know how many people covet it, but they just can't find a suitable reason to make a move. Now that Noah's Ark has caused such a big commotion, it's the perfect time to strike. With so many people making their move, our company can't withstand the pressure."

“Name your terms,” Kensuke Kensuke said directly. “Don’t beat around the bush. You should have a way to take Noah’s Ark out of here.”

Chapter 228 The Formatted Noah's Ark

"How about coming to our company and working as a game designer for 20 years?" Xincheng stretched. "If we can defeat Syndra in the IT field and make our company an IT giant, this period can be shortened."

"Deal." Without a moment's hesitation, Tadahiro Kenmura made his choice the instant he heard the terms.